Improvement in vehicle-brakes



J'. C.. JENKINS,

VEHICLE-BRAKE.

PatentedFeb. 15,1876.

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JOSEPH C. JENKINS, OF LEBANON, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO WILLIAMVH. BENNETT, 0F SAME PLACE.

JMPROVEMENT IN VEHICLE-BRAKES.

. Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,474, dated February 15, 1876; application iilcd December 16, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. JENKINS, of Lebanon, in the countyof Wilson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Carriage and Wagon Brakes and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which a perspective view ofthe front axle and wheels and the tongue of a wagon or carriage is shown with my invention applied thereto.

The object of my invention is to overcome the disadvantage resulting from the great leverage ofthe wheels -against the brake when it is in action, as experienced when brakes are applied to the peripheries of the wheels of a carriage or wagoinand at the same time render practicable the use of the tongue, front hounds, and axle as a support for the brake, and yet have the brake-lever infront of the driver, so that it may be operated by his foot while he is sitting upon the seat of the wagon.

V The nature ot' my invention consists in the combination of hubs extended on their inner ends, so as to form bearing-surfaces for the brake-blocks, and a pair ot' horizontal brakelevers, having blocks on their outer short ends, and pivoted between jaws of the front hounds, and connected together and kept in position at their long ends by a link and a strap,` and then. connected by an extension of oneof their long ends to a nearly-upright footlever, which is pivoted to the tongue, all as hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the draw- 1n gs.` t

A A arethe front .wheels of a carriage or wagon, and B the axle; C, the tongue; D, the front hounds, and E the brake shoe or block. Each of the hubs a a of the wheels A is made with a cylindrical brake-bearing surface, b, on its inner end. These surfaces are extended from the inner end ot' the hub proper sufficiently to afford a support 'for shoes or blocks 'E ofthe brake-levers F F. The hounds D are formed with ends c c, which are parallel with the tongue C. On top of these ends, and

down through these straps, and through the Y levers and ends c c of the hounds. The long inner ends ofthe levers F F are extended past `one another over the tongue, and are linked together bya chain-link, f. These linked ends are guided and kept in position, without being stopped in their movements, by an angular strap, g, fastened to the axle and to the tongue. The inner end of one of these levers, at a point beyond the link f, is connected by a rod, t, to a vertical foot-lever, G, which 1ever is pivoted att' to the tongue O, and is extended up far enough to be'couvenient for the driver to place his foot upon its widened end, and thereby operate the brake while sitting upon the seat of the wagon or carriage.

My brake, as described, is very siniple, com pact, and strong, and answers far better for the purpose than brakes which apply pressure and friction to the peripheries of the wheels of wagons and carriages. l

I do not claim, under this application, the construction ofthe Wheels and hubs further than the extension of the hubs to form a bearing-surface for the brake-shoes, as I intend to apply for a separate patent on the construction of the wheels and hubs.

I do not claim the application of the brake 'shoe to the hub ot" a carriage or wagon wheel, or supporting the brake-lever upon the tongue in front of the driver, in connection with' V' brake-blocks applied to the periphery of the wheels, as both these devices are in themselves old; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a carriage or Wagon brake, the c0111- bination ot' the carriage or wagon wheel hubs, constructed with cylindrical extensions on their innei` ends for brake-'shoes to bear upon the hounds, with extensions and continingstraps, and attached to thel axle, the bmkeshoe levers pivoted between the shoe-exten sions and straps of the hounds, and extended in opposite directions o ver the tongue and under' n strap, and linked together, and the footiflever pivoted to the tongue, and conuected by a rod to one end of one of the brakeshoe levers, ail arranged in theY manner ,and for the purposes herein described.

Witness my hand in matter ot' my applica.- tion for a. patent for improvement in carriage brakes.

JOSEPH, C. JENKINS. Witnesses: A

E. J. MIDDLETON, J r., JN0. L. SLATER. 

